Up here in Canada, the issue of the legalization of same-sex marriage, with full benefits under provincial and federal laws, has been more or less a non-issue for quite some time now. Down south, however, the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA,” 1 U.S.C. §7, 28 U.S.C. 1738C), a controversial piece of legislation signed and ratified […]
If used properly, a male condom is up to 98% effective in preventing pregnancy. If a man makes pinpricks in a condom in order to secretly get his girlfriend pregnant, as was done by Mr. Craig Jaret Hutchinson (Hutchinson), unsurprisingly, that number drops dramatically. Last Monday, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal (NSCA) heard arguments […]
When a four-year old boy gets hit by a school bus, and suffers “catastrophic injuries,” questions need to be asked. The most important question is whether that driver was negligent, insofar as he caused or contributed to the boy’s damages: was the driver under the influence of alcohol? Was he driving above the speed limit? […]
In last week’s blog post, I covered the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) v Ontario, 2012 ONCA 342 (“CAMH”), a decision that has managed to intensify the debate on Ontario’s, and on a more sweeping scale, Canada’s policy on the treatment of the mentally ill in our justice system. Since then, my thoughts have turned […]
Canada Commits to Fighting Human Trafficking As a result of mounting international pressure, Canada has finally agreed to take action to combat human trafficking. The announcement was made on Wednesday in Ottawa by the Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews. According to Toews, it has been in development in years. Since 2005, provinces have been developing […]
Imagine working diligently to be admitted into law school, and then, once admitted, pouring over thousands of cases, cramming them into your brain, being tested on them, and once this is all said and done, studying for two more exams, articling for ten months and finally becoming a lawyer— only to be disbarred. The thought […]
The Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R v Maybin, 2012 SCC 24 is the Court’s latest foray into causality in the context of criminal liability. The decision is arguably the Court’s most important statement of the law since R v Nette, [2001] 3 S.C.R. 488. If anything, Maybin serves to broaden an approach to […]
As I explained a few weeks ago, Bedford v Canada (Attorney General), 2012 ONCA 186 [Bedford] decision asks more questions than it answers. One of those questions is how prostitution can be communicated, specifically how prostitutes (or their pimps) can solicit clients and how clients can express interest in those prostitutes. The provision in the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, […]
SCC Won’t Weigh in on Whether Domain Names are Property On May 24th, the Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal with respect to the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Tucows.Com Co. v Lojas Renner S.A. 2011 ONCA 548. Tucows.com Co. (“Tucows”) and Lojas Renner S.A. (“Renner”) disputed Tucows’s right to keep the […]
Unholy Alliances? Gay-Straight Clubs, Catholic Opposition and Ontario’s Anti-Bullying Bill 13 The Canadian media has been awash with reports of support and opposition since the Ontario Minister of Education, Lauren Broten, announced the provincial government’s stance on certain amendments to the existing Education Act on May 25, 2012. Officially called the Accepting Schools Act (“ASA”), […]